


When Halloween Falls

by timelady_queenofhell



Series: At The End of Days [4]
Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Gen, Hilda Spellman is too precious and we love her, I wrote some fluff and I'm not sure how, Madam Spellman Fictober Challenge, Maternal Lilith, Part of my End of Days series, Soft Zelda Spellman, Special Halloween oneshot in this End of Days universe, Spellman Halloween fun, Written for Madam Spellman Fictober, Yes they share this kid now and it's too adorable, maternal Zelda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27313897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelady_queenofhell/pseuds/timelady_queenofhell
Summary: It's All Hallows eve and the Spellmans and Lilith are still stuck inside the time bubble. Hilda has a great idea of how to occupy their time in their isolation but what would Zelda and Lilith think?Halloween oneshot.Written for Madam Spellman Fictober Challenge.Prompt: costumes/disguisesPart of my End of Days series.
Relationships: Hilda Spellman & Zelda Spellman, Zelda Spellman & Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith
Series: At The End of Days [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756426
Comments: 17
Kudos: 22
Collections: Madam Spellman Fictober Challenge





	When Halloween Falls

**Author's Note:**

> This is a small, soft & fluffy oneshot set in my End of Days series.  
> At The End of Days The Rain Will Fall, originally a oneshot, has snowballed and it appears I can't seem to say goodbye to the Spellmans and Lilith in this time bubble. Feel free to go back and read and comment on the previous stories of how the characters ended up here.  
> I unfortunately do not know much about the traditional practices around Samhain, but it's the CAOS world so please allow me some creative licence.  
> Hope you enjoy :)

She knew it was here somewhere, she wouldn’t have thrown it out. On her hands and knees Hilda Spellman riffled through an old storage trunk she kept in the greenhouse room tossing its contents from side to side as she searched for her intended item.

Piles of papers, photo albums, soft toys, and child’s paintings all got thrown to one side as she searched deeper and deeper into the box. Hilda was almost to the point of emptying the entire contents outside the trunk and onto the floor before she finally found it. Her hands clasped the dark material and she pulled it out from the base of the trunk.

A small onesie, in the shape of a little monster, was clasped in the blonde’s hands - it had been Sabrina’s when she was a young babe. The trunk contained all sorts of keepsake memories that Hilda had collected over the years for her niece and this costume had been saved from Sabrina’s first birthday.

Sabrina was born on All Hallows eve so their first-time celebrating Samhain together was the following year on her first birthday. Ever the devout witch, Zelda had kept very much to their traditional satanic celebrations and utterly despised the idea that they celebrate ‘Halloween’ like common mortals. Hilda however, thought it important for Sabrina to have exposure to that side of her lineage; her mother was a mortal and she didn’t want that to be forgotten. It had since become a new Spellman tradition; merging the two celebrations - the Wiccan rituals and the mortal celebrations of decorations and candy.

The dark material had survived well since its last use, perhaps a bit dusty and crinkled but still in perfect condition. It was a bit big for the child that now inhabited this house, originally intended for a one year old, but that was nothing a simple spell couldn’t fix.

Blowing off the dust, Hilda lifted up the hood of the costume that had two little padded spiked horns tipped with red glitter for blood. She knew how Zelda would react to this idea, the same as she did 16 years ago. A lot had changed in their lives in recent years since Sabrina’s dark baptism, most notably they no longer worshipped the Dark Lord, but that wouldn’t change Zelda views on mortal Halloween. Hilda did, however, wonder how his other mother would react. How familiar was the first witch with mortal traditions such a Halloween?

Still, they didn’t have much to do or have anything to look forward to whilst stuck in this time bubble. They needed something to occupy the hours and this would be fun, wouldn’t it?

The bubbly Spellman found her sister and Lilith in the living room, both drinking liquor in comfortable silence, whilst Zelda rocked the sleeping infant in a wooden crib next to her.

“Zelds, look what I found!” Hilda proudly lifted the tiny costume in her hand.

Zelda rolled her eyes and took a small sip of the whiskey she cradled in her fingers. “What is that hideous thing?”

“It’s a costume.” Hilda replied sarcastically as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It was Sabrina’s, don’t you remember? Her first birthday, when we celebrated Samhain; I got her this little monster outfit and we dressed her up and took her into Greendale for the town’s Halloween celebrations.”

“Yes, I remember. When you insisted on decorating the house with pumpkins and setting your spiders to cover everything with cobwebs. My shoe wall has never recovered from that, there’s still remnants all over the top shelf.” Zelda replied dryly. “So, what are you doing with that thing now then sister?”

“I got it for him,” gesturing towards the sleeping babe beside her “I thought we could dress him up, maybe put a few decorations up in the house again. Lighten the mood a bit.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Zelda’s stern voice replied. “I’m not torturing him with that indignity.”

The babe in the crib started to stir and whine as if in agreement.

“Oh come on Zelds, it will be fun. He would look adorable in this little outfit!” Hilda waved the costume still proudly held up in her hands.

“Aside from the fact it is a dreary mortal tradition with children gallivanting around town begging for candy like desperate paupers, don’t you think the costume is a little _insensitive_ Hilda?”

“Really? No, it’s just a cute little demon onesie. I don’t know what you mean.”

“With everything that Lilith has been through. I don’t think she wants to be reminded of Hell, Lucifer and the demons that betrayed her.”

“Oh.” Hilda lowered the costume and the smile faded from her face. “I’m sorry Lilith, I didn’t think.”

“Thank you Zelda, but I’m not offended by a child’s costume _._ Besides,” Lilith stood from her seat moving towards her grizzling son and swiftly picked him up gently “I think he would make a wonderful little monster.”

“Really?” Zelda commented, the shocked look on her face matched that on Hilda’s and the sisters exchanged a glance over Lilith’s surprising reaction.

“I’m ‘ _Mother of Demons_ ’ Miss Spellman.” The grandeur in which the cold words escaped her lips were horrifically familiar yet she followed with a small grin to show her jest and looked down at the child in her arms. “And this one is definitely a little monster; perhaps he should look the part as well.” Lilith smiled as she rocked the infant close to her chest.

“That’s perfect, thank you Lilith.” The excitement returning to the softer Spellman sister. “It’s going to be great; we can have decorations and oh! I’ll make my famous pumpkin pie.”

“Don’t go overboard Hilda. We are frozen in time in this bubble, we don’t even know how time is moving beyond these walls and if it even is All Hallows’ Eve outside. We just need to light the fires, put our offerings to the spirits as normal, just in case the veil between the real world and the spirit world opens and affects us in here. We can’t risk them breaking this spell when we don’t yet have a plan against Them.”

“I know I know Zelda. This is the time when the spirit world is most accessible, they could break through to our world and torment us all if we don’t appease the spirits of our ancestors, blah blah. But still, some fun and games with yummy food and getting to decorate the house and do something _normal_ is definitely cause to celebrate.” Hilda was practically bouncing on her feet.

“Here, you take this” Hilda shoved the child’s costume into her sister’s lap before she could protest. “I’m going to make a start on my pumpkin pie for this evening!”

The soft blonde curls of Hilda Spellman bounced out the door and towards the kitchen.

“I hope you know what you’ve done.” Zelda carefully inspected the costume on her lap, her lips turning in distaste as if the fabric was about to stain her fingertips.

Whilst standing and gently bouncing the babe, Lilith looked towards the annoyed redhead in her chair. “Me? I didn’t do anything. She seemed so excited by the idea, what’s the harm?”

“You’ve never had to suffer through my sister on All Hallows’ eve; I’ve had 16 years of it. Watching her celebrate _Halloween_ like a mortal. It will be a wonder if we get any of the rituals done before midnight. I thought the British didn’t celebrate this holiday…” Rolling her eyes, Zelda discarded the costume over the arm of her armchair and continued to sip her whiskey slowly. It was going to be a draining night.

* * *

All too soon the Spellman Manor was covered in decorations; bunting trailed the staircase, pumpkin shaped garlands hung on the mantels, tea lights were everywhere and Hilda’s spiders had covered every picture frame and lamp in their dreadful cobwebs that would likely never get cleaned up.

Zelda could barely get to the fireplace past the large collection of pumpkins on the hearth which had somehow appeared despite Hilda having no time or space to grow them and they nearly had no room to place the food offerings required for their departed ancestors. On hands and knees, her head nearly disappeared in the chimney breast as she tried to prepare the sacred log for burning this evening.

“Do you need a hand?” Lilith asked, appearing suddenly in the room.

Zelda jumped at the interruption and whacked her head on the chimney brick.

“Ow!” Crawling back from the hearth, Zelda turned towards the voice, one hand through her auburn locks to hold the back of her bumped head. “No, it’s okay. The log is all set now, that was the last one.”

“The other three are already done?”

“Yes, I did them earlier while Hilda was dragging all the blasted decorations out of storage. I knew she wouldn’t sort the items for the ritual, so thought best to just do it myself.” Zelda stood and dusted off the soot and dirt from her fitted dress. “I just need to encase the area with a salt circle and we will be ready to go.”

“Sounds like you have everything under control.” Lilith twisted her hands together awkwardly, feeling very much a spare part in tonight's family evening with the Spellman’s running around decorating and preparing.

“Well someone has to, otherwise we’d be lost to my sister’s orange coloured festivities with no thought for our rites or our safety.” Zelda’s flustered tone gave the appearance of grievance for the situation but Lilith knew she thrived on it.

“You don’t have to do everything though, Zelda. You have a family to help with these things; a niece and nephew who are perfectly capable.” Lilith commented with caution. “And me.”

“I know.” Her acknowledgement was quiet but sincere.

The sounds of the baby crying echoed distantly down the hallway.

“Damn. He has the _worst_ timing.” Zelda turned back to the fireplace to view her half-completed ritual preparations, clearly torn between completing the job and going to soothe the crying child.

“I’ll get him. You carry on here.” Lilith suggested, picking up the pot of salt from the table and offering to the witch.

“Are you sure?” Her delicate hand posed over the offered salt but halted, inches above Lilith’s.

“Yes, you finish here. He probably needs changing. You know I’m quite the skilled witch when it comes to diapers now.” Lilith raised an eyebrow and smiled with what appeared to be pride.

“So I’ve noticed.” Zelda carefully took the salt from the first witch, both their hands lingering on the pot for a fraction too long. “Thank you Lilith.” She added softly.

A silence washed between them, comfortable yet thick with emotion. They seemed so content in this new found domesticated set up. When did that happen?

An understanding had been reached between them; the hostility of the past was gone. Lilith had redeemed herself in Zelda’s eyes; within this isolation she had _changed_ , her mentorship with her niece doing wonders not only for Sabrina but also the first witch herself. Lilith’s previous betrayals of the Spellman’s now long forgotten.

For Lilith, Zelda’s love and protection of her son was something she would never be able to repay her for. She did not deserve such kindness yet in her greatest hour of need the woman in front of her had saved her, adopted her son as if he were her own and taught Lilith how to be a mother. It was a debt too large to be expressed in words.

Both fiercely strong and powerful, yet each woman had their own vulnerability, and once that had been shared and understood a balance had been struck. They loved the child and _that_ was the most important thing.

“I’ll be up shortly and we can get him into that dreadful outfit for Hilda.” Zelda laughed, lightening the mood and brushing away any tension caught in the air.

“Of course. I’ll go check on him and get him ready, can’t disappoint his Aunt Hilda, can we?”

The sound of Lilith’s heels echoed towards the cries of the child as she left the room. His screams slowly rose in pitch, crying out for attention.

“He sounds just as excited for tonight as I am.” Zelda muttered to herself as she opened the salt pot and finished her preparations.

* * *

The evening was filled with the usual festivities for the Spellman family; food had been placed inside the salt circles as offerings to their dead ancestors, the sacred logs had been lit, and Hilda had prepared a spectacular meal for the whole family to enjoy. Lilith resented the lack of meat options the blonde had presented and didn’t quite understand why a witch would be _vegetarian_. Her lips curled just thinking of that word.

It was a new side to family life for the first witch, to be included and participate in a celebration like this. Something she had never before experienced. Her arrival into this house had been somewhat dramatic and their stay in these walls was often isolating and frustrating, for each of them. However tonight was different. There wasn’t much reason for celebrations usually, each trying to find something to focus on and occupy their time so as not to dwell on their imprisonment. Therefore, this little evening of drinks and laughter and cake seemed beyond thrilling to them all and the mood in the household was joyous.

The pumpkin pie went down a treat and soon the plates were clear and the table was empty of food. Whilst Ambrose and Sabrina offered to do the washing up, the remaining family relocated to the parlour for drinks and to check on the fires.

Holding the boy carefully on her hip, Zelda walked across the room to check on the burning embers of the sacred log. He wriggled against her waist, fists clutching the fabric of her blouse, clearly not content to be held and trapped in her arms. She didn’t notice one of his socks had rubbed free from his foot and fell onto the carpet behind her.

Lilith, following Zelda into the room, picked up the lone white sock.

“Zelda, he seems to have misplaced his sock yet again.” She held up the tiny item in her fingers as Zelda turned from the fireplace.

“Honestly. I only put that back on you before we left the dinner table.” Zelda tutted at the child, lifting him from her hip and moving him around to her chest. Holding him effortlessly in one arm, she grabbed and inspected his now bare toes.

“I’ll put it back on.” Lilith laughed and walked up to Zelda and her son.

Readjusting the boy, Zelda held him in both arms facing outwards. His chubby legs stuck out awkwardly in front and the hood on his onesie slipped down from his head so the padded horns dug into her ribs.

The first witch tried to hold his bare foot to put on the sock but he kicked free, bouncing forcefully in Zelda’s arms. She had to tighten her grip so she did not drop him.

“Keep _still_ Mister!” Zelda scorned jokingly.

Lilith laughed quietly and attempted to commandeer his naked foot again. She eventually held it tight and managed to slip back on the knitted sock and tucked it into the leg of the black costume.

“There.” The brunette said proudly. “And let’s get that hood back up again you little beast.”

With the child seemingly less fidgety now in Zelda’s tight arms, both women pulled at the costume; lifting the hood back over his head and readjusting the horns so they were in the correct place. The boy giggled contently, trying to grab their hands as they fussed over him. Zelda squeezed his tummy gently while Lilith tickled the arch of his foot, both prompting more laughter from the child.

“Look at you three!” Hilda exclaimed; her smile as wide as could be. “This is definitely picture worthy.”

Both Zelda and Lilith halted their cooing over the babe, Hilda’s interruption making them suddenly aware of their close proximity. Lilith let go on the boy’s foot and awkwardly took a step away.

“No, no, go back to where you were Lilith. I want to take a picture of you all.” Hilda ordered blissfully unaware of the moment she had ruined.

“Really Hilda?” Zelda rolled her eyes, her soft maternal side disappearing. “Do we want to be documenting our time stuck in here?”

“That’s not what I want to document Zelda. It’s for him. And you.” Hilda held up a camera that somehow appeared from nowhere. “He looks so adorable in that outfit, with the little horns. It’s so we can remember his first Halloween.”

“Samhain, Hilda.” Her elder sister corrected.

“Fine, Samhain. Now stand close together you two.” Hilda smiled, raising the camera allowing no further protests.

This was another new experience for Lilith, she wasn’t sure she had ever been photographed before, and certainly not as part of a family picture. Shuffling slowly to stand closer to Zelda, Lilith felt uncomfortable in her own skin and suddenly unsure what she was supposed to do with her arms or hands.

“Bit closer Lilith.” Hilda instructed.

Lilith moved again until her shoulder touched Zelda’s and they stood side by side.

“Just do what you were doing a moment ago, you were tickling his feet Lilith.”

The brunette’s eyebrows furrowed. _Was she?_ That didn’t sound like her. She looked down at the boy held in his Night Mother’s arms and instantly her face relaxed and the smile radiated across her lips. It would seem this little monster had changed her more than she realised.

Grabbing his foot again, Lilith lightly scratched the arch prompting him to squirm and giggle. Zelda held his hand and placed her little finger in his tiny fist. Momentarily, they both forgot Hilda was standing there poised with the camera. Focussed solely on the little boy in the demon costume, laughing and smiling, both women looked down adoringly at the babe. Their son.

The click of the camera wasn’t heard as Hilda took the photograph.

“Perfect.” She whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, comments very much appreciated. Happy Halloween everyone


End file.
